The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Delayed to February 2015

The Witcher 3 has been delayed until February 2015, the games developer CD Projekt RED has announced.

The decision was detailed in an open letter to the fans, where the developer said: “We recently reexamined what we had achieved thus far, and faced a choice about the game’s final release date. The decision we made was difficult, thoroughly considered, and ultimately clear and obvious.

We could have released the game towards the end of this year as we had initially planned. A few additional months will let us achieve the quality that will satisfy us, the quality gamers expect from us.”

The developer described their ambition and aim for the third instalment of the Witcher series was to: “Produce a title that would take our 11 years of experience in creating RPGS and distill them into a quintessence, into a game that would effectively crown those years.”

With the game originally slated for late 2014, CD Projekt wrote a message directed at the gamers apologising for the delay. The developer said:

“Dear gamers – we know many of you would have liked to play The Witcher 3 sooner, as soon as possible, even. We’re sorry to make you wait longer than you, or we, initially assumed you would. At the same time, we believe the game will prove to be worth the wait and meet the expectations you have of us. We believe The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be an exceptional RPG, one of the best, providing many hours of wonderful entertainment.”

The letter ended with a note to the shareholder assuring them the games quality would shine through:

“Dear shareholders – we are aware of the responsibility that rests with us and thank you for the trust you have granted us thus far. We firmly believe that quality – more than any other factor – determines a game’s success, and that the decision we have made is thus equally valid in business terms.”

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will now be a February 2015 release on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game promises an incredible map size, with the game world being ’30 times larger than The Witcher 2′. It will be a long wait for February.

How do you feel about the delay? Are you disappointed you can’t play this in 2014?